They will attend several Homecoming activities, ride in the
parade Saturday, Oct. 13, and be recognized during the Cowboys' football game
against Air Force at 5 p.m.

Byrd taught school in Cheyenne for
37 years, first at Warren Air Force Base for a decade and then 27 years in
Cheyenne schools.

In 1980, Byrd was elected to the
Wyoming State House of Representatives and was the first African-American woman
to ever serve in the Wyoming State Legislature. After serving eight years, she
ran for and won election to the Wyoming State Senate in 1988, where she served
four years. She was also the first African American to ever serve in the
Wyoming State Senate.

Byrd was the prime sponsor of
legislation to create Wyoming Equality Day, which passed in 1991. Wyoming’s
version of this paid holiday honors the birth of Martin Luther King Jr.

The UW African-American and
Diaspora Studies program (AADS) has created a speaker series named in Byrd’s honor.

“She has shown -- to millions of
women and girls -- that women have a place in state and national politics, and
that their voices should be counted and heard,” says AADS Director Tracey Owens
Patton. “If it were not for pioneers like Mrs. Byrd, women like me would not
have some of the advantages we have today.”

Dyekman, who has built a 33-year law career in Cheyenne,
continues to contribute to his alma mater. He has been a member of the UW Foundation
board since 2003, serving as chairman from 2010 to 2012. He has been a member
of the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors since 1997. And he helps
students on the UW debate team and in the College of Law.

“I don’t know if this university can ever repay the debt it
owes to Greg, but the Distinguished Alumni Award is certainly one way to start
because it exemplifies what an alumnus can be,” says Ken Smith, head of the
Department of Communications and Journalism. “He is a huge success in his
field. He serves as a role model for past and current students. And he is
outspoken about the importance of the education that he received at UW.”

Dyekman is a partner in the firm of Dray, Thomson and
Dyekman in Cheyenne, where his practice has included a wide range of legal
work. He has been active in numerous nonprofit efforts in Cheyenne and was
named Person of the Year by the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce.

A Casper Natrona High School graduate, Meyer currently is
the Wyoming state treasurer since 2008 and was first elected to state office as
Wyoming secretary of state in 1999.

He was the longest serving Wyoming attorney general from
1987-1995, and was the Wyoming Legislative Service Office (LSO) assistant
director from 1971-1987. Meyer was named special assistant for governmental relations to the UW president from 1995-1998.

After graduating from the UW College of Law, he practiced
for four years, two years as Fremont County deputy county attorney and two
years in a private law partnership.

Meyer is a member of several UW boards and was named a
College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumnus in 2010.

Former Gov. Dave Freudenthal says of Meyer’s contributions
to UW and the state, “In his professional endeavors and his personal
undertakings, Joe has promoted the university’s interests and the affiliation
of its graduates. He made significant contributions to our profession.”

He met his wife, Mary
Orr (BA ’65, MA ’68) at UW. They have two sons and daughters-in-law, who also
are UW graduates.